1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method, arrangement, heart rate monitor, computer software product and computer for identifying a performer of an exercise.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
In health care, it is often necessary for a doctor in a patient-doctor relationship to be sure that the patient has followed the instructions for rehabilitation given by the doctor. It is important to follow the instructions so as to enable the strenuousness of the rehabilitation to be adjusted to conform with the way in which the patient""s condition progresses. This is also the case in sports as regards the situation between a coach and a trainee wherein the coach, who cannot always be present when the trainee performs the exercises, cannot be sure that the trainee has performed all exercises assigned by the coach. In such a case, the coach may draw false conclusions about how the training affects the way in which the trainee advances, which may further lead to false conclusions when future training programs are being planned.
An example of a rehabilitation or training instruction would be a situation wherein a person being instructed, such as a patient, is given an exercise program by an instructor, such as a fitness instructor, company nurse or company doctor. The program includes exercise three times a week during the next month. During the exercise period, the patient writes down in an exercise diary or informs the instructor orally how he or she carries out the exercise program. Alternatively, the patient may also utilize a heart rate monitor during the exercise and store a recorded heart rate every time he or she exercises or store the mean heart rate during the exercise or other heart rate parameters describing the exercise in the memory of the heart rate monitor. The essential point is that on the basis of the stored information, it can in one way or another be ascertained that the exercise program has been followed according to the instructions.
A problem of the current methods is that the authenticity of the exercise diaries and stored heart rate recordings cannot be verified. The instructor cannot be sure that it is really the person being instructed that has performed the exercises listed in the training program. Of course, for example, a code to identify the person being instructed can be arranged in the heart rate monitor, but it still cannot be verified whether the particular person has performed the exercise. In addition to the problem of confirming the user, another problem is, for example, that the same heart rate information stored in the heart rate monitor can be used several times by copying the information as if it were associated with a new exercise.
An object of the invention is to provide an improved method of confirming a performer of a fitness exercise so that the aforementioned problems can be alleviated. This is achieved by a method to be disclosed, hereinafter, which is a method of confirming a performer of a fitness exercise, the method comprising measuring heart rate information associated with the performer of the fitness exercise as regards the fitness exercise; forming an identifier value in one or more classes on the basis of one or more parameters of the measured heart rate information by means of a mathematical model comprising dependence information between said parameter of the heart rate information and said class; confirming the performer of the fitness exercise by comparing in said one or more classes the identifier value with a reference value formed for the performer of the fitness exercise in the class.
The invention further relates to an arrangement for confirming a performer of a fitness exercise, the arrangement comprising a heart rate monitor for measuring one or more parameters of heart rate information associated with the performer of the fitness exercise as regards the fitness exercise; identifier equipment comprising means for classifying the performer of the fitness exercise in one or more classes; a mathematical model comprising dependence information between said one or more parameters of the heart rate information and said one or more classes; the identifier equipment further comprising calculating means for forming a reference value in one or more classes on the basis of one or more parameters of the heart rate information by means of the mathematical model; means for comparing in said one or more classes the identifier value of the performer of the fitness exercise with the reference value formed for the performer of the fitness exercise in the class; means for concluding the performer of the fitness exercise on the basis of the comparison between the identifier values and the reference values.
The invention also relates to a heart rate monitor comprising means for measuring one or more parameters of heart rate information associated with a performer of a fitness exercise as regards the fitness exercise. The heart rate monitor comprises means for forming an execution date of the fitness exercise in connection with the fitness exercise and for adding said date to the heart rate information collected on the fitness exercise in order to confirm the execution date of the fitness exercise.
The invention also relates to a computer software product for confirming a performer of a fitness exercise, the product comprising a program stored in a device for storing programs and readable by a computer. The computer software product comprises the following method steps: receiving heart rate information associated with the performer of the fitness exercise as regards the fitness exercise; forming an identifier value on the basis of parameters of the measured heart rate information in one or more classes by means of a mathematical model comprising dependence information between the parameters of the heart rate information and the classes; confirming the performer of the fitness exercise by. comparing in said one or more classes the identifier value with a reference value formed for the performer of the fitness exercise in the class.
The invention also relates to a computer for confirming a performer of a fitness exercise, the computer comprising means for receiving one or more parameters of heart rate information associated with the performer of the fitness exercise as regards the fitness exercise; means for classifying the performer of the fitness exercise in one or more classes; a mathematical model comprising dependence information between said one or more parameters of the heart rate information and said one or more classes; calculating means for forming a reference value in one or more classes on the basis of one or more parameters of the heart rate information by means of the mathematical model; means for comparing in said one or more classes the identifier value of the performer. of the fitness exercise with a reference value formed for the performer of the fitness exercise in the class; means for concluding the performer of the fitness exercise on the basis of the comparison between the identifier values and the reference values.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the. dependent claims.
In a solution of the invention, in order to confirm a performer of a fitness exercise a person whose execution of an exercise is to be monitored preferably uses a heart rate monitor. The heart rate monitor is a device used in sports and medicine to measure a human heart rate either from an electric impulse transmitted by the heart or from the pressure caused by the heart rate in blood vessels. A known structure of the heart rate monitors is, for example, such that an electrode belt is arranged around a user""s chest to measure the heart rate by two electrodes. The electrode belt inductively transmits the measured heart rate information to a receiver unit worn on the wrist. The receiver unit often also comprises a display for showing the heart rate, and a user interface to enable other functions of the heart rate monitor to be used. In the situation described above, the heart rate monitor refers to an integrated whole comprising the electrode belt and the receiver. The heart rate monitor may also consist of one piece only such that the display means are also located on the chest, in which case no information needs to be transmitted to a separate receiver unit. Furthermore, the heart rate monitor may have such a structure that it only comprises a device arranged on the wrist, which operates without an electrode belt arranged on the chest, measuring the heart rate from the pressure in a blood vessel. The invention is not, however, restricted to the structure of the heart rate equipment used. A relevant point to the invention is, however, that the heart rate monitor comprises means for transmitting heart rate information to an external computer or the like.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a number of classes is specified on the basis of which the user can be identified. Such physiological parameters include, for example, the user""s weight, age, maximum oxygen uptake or some such variable. The user undergoes measurements in each physiological class, whereby the user can be classified by using the specified physiological classes. For example, the following combination of variables can be measured for a certain person: 83 kg xe2x88x9247xe2x88x9235 ml//kg/min. In the physiological class weight, the classification may be based on intervals of 5 kg, for example, the user thus belonging to weight range 80 to 85 kg. The invention comprises calculating several results, such as e.g. the mean heart rate, standard heart rate deviation, respiratory rhythm identifiable from the heart rate or other such variables describing the heart rate, from the heart rate information measured from the performer of a fitness exercise. The heart rate information results and the physiological variables described above are dependent on each other, and this fact is utilized in the invention. This can be exemplified by said weight class of 80 to 85 kg; the mean heart rate, standard heart rate deviation and respiratory rhythm identifiable on the basis of the heart rate can be specified for persons belonging to this class.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the dependence between the heart rate information results, i.e. the input parameters, and the classes, i.e. the output parameters, is modeled by utilizing a mathematical model. The mathematical model used can be, for example, a neural network which is taught to draw conclusions on the effect of each input parameter on each output parameter by using sufficiently large user data. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, when heart rate information data has been fed to the model and certain output parameter values obtained as the output, it is highly probable that the user will be identified.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the execution date and time of an exercise are stored in connection with the exercise and they are encrypted such that the user cannot affect or change them. This enables the possibility to be eliminated that the heart rate information stored by the user on the exercise were copied and used on several different days, for example.
An advantage of the invention is that a performer of an exercise can be identified in a more reliable manner compared with the known methods.